A debuffing wizard...

[Revenance]

... that banned Necromancy.

Can it be done?

What are some good debuff spells that are not in Necromancy (or Enchantment or Evocation, since this debuffing wizard is going to be a Focused Transmuter)?

I can see that Transmutation has a variety of debuffs (such as Slow, Call of Stone, Flesh to Stone, Baleful polymorph, PoA, etc.), but they all offer a save, while Necro does not (well, only some of them do not, such as Ray of Enfeeblement/Clumsiness, Split Ray of Exhaustion (:P), Waves of Exhaustion, etc).

So I guess to sum up my mindset, I love Necromancy's debuff spells, mainly because they don't offer saves. Are there good debuff spells in other schools that also do not offer saves? Am I overvaluing the power of debuff spells that do not offer saves?

My sources for spells: PHB, Spell Compendium, PHB 2

[Fouredged Sword]

The fell drain metamagic is a great debuff. It turns makes any spell have a negative level rider. It works great for direct damage spells.

Other than that, I wouldn't worry about saves too much. Just focus on boosting your save DCs and you whould be able to punch through the weakest save of whatever you are fighting without any issue. Even strong saves aren't that great compared to an optimised save DC.

Remember that by the end of the game, one save failed means that they are out of combat. That means that if you really want to hit hard you can.

Also fell drain sonic snap is a great second level slot that softens up targets for that save or lose spell.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Conjuration is the college you are looking for, my friend.

Grease. Even if you make your save, you are STILL flat-footed. Targets Reflex save and/or Balance check

Glitterdust. Even if they save vs blind, they're still outlined to reveal opponents.

Stinking Cloud. Save or Lose.

Cloudkill. Con damage, even if you make the save.

Best of all... none of them allow SR... which is more important than saves.

[faceroll]

Conjuration is the college you are looking for, my friend.

Grease. Even if you make your save, you are STILL flat-footed. Targets Reflex save and/or Balance check

Glitterdust. Even if they save vs blind, they're still outlined to reveal opponents.

Stinking Cloud. Save or Lose.

Cloudkill. Con damage, even if you make the save.

Best of all... none of them allow SR... which is more important than saves.

You forgot about Web. Entangling effect and a really stupid mechanic to get through it.

[ILM]

It may be possible but I don't see why you'd do it. There are great options outside of Necromancy but there's so much juicy stuff in it too if you really want to play a debuffer. Why be a Transmuter if you're going to debuff?

Also, I believe pumping your Necromancy DCs is easier than doing so for Transmutation.

[NeoSeraphi]

Also, pumping Necromancy DCs is easier than pumping Transmutation

That's what's so great about most Necromancy debuffs. They're rays. They don't allow saves.

First of all, the reason that Necromancy spells generally don't allow saving throws is that they are single target, where as spells like slow and stinking cloud affect an area, however wide.

Secondly, if you're going for a Focused Transmuter debuffer, I really don't see why you would choose to dump Necromancy (unless this is some kind of personal challenge, which I would understand) Personally, if I were going for this build, I would dump Abjuration instead. (Yes, you would lose dispelling, but there are so many good 3rd level spells from Transmutation, Conjuration, and Necromany that you'd probably only have room for one or less of them anyway.

3rd, your question about good Transmutation debuffs. You seem to have missed a Transmutation single target debuff ray no save, which you like, so I'll tell you about it. It's called ray of clumsiness, and it's Transmutation's answer to ray of enfeeblement. It's in the Spell Compendium. It is identical to its Necromancy counterpart in every way, you fire a ray, it's a 1st level spell, it grants a 1d6+1/2 level penalty, but it targets Dexterity instead of Strength. A good way to soften up Reflex saves for web.

Now, your question about overvaluing the power of debuffs that do not offer a saving throw. The question is a good one, and it's not easy to answer. Which is more potent? The ability to weaken a single target without fail, or the ability to potentially weaken multiple targets with varying degrees of success?

This is why, personally, I choose sorcerers as my debuffers. There really aren't that many debuff spells out there past 3rd level, so spells known has never been a problem for me, but I can use all my early spell levels to either slam one big bad without letting him use his ridiculous saving throw, or use one of my 2nd or 3rd level AOEs to mop up a group of mooks no problem. I think the major problem debuffer wizards have is preparing for both crowd control and big bads. It's really up to how perceptive you are of your DMs style.

[Drachasor]

You forgot about Web. Entangling effect and a really stupid mechanic to get through it.

And it stops ranged attackers cold.

[Ruinix]

the best metamagic for debuf AND cc is Sculpt Spell allow u to modify the form of AOE spells.